


(promise me) we'll be all right

by whatshisface



Category: Tales of Berseria, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Headcanon, Lailah is not in this as much as you think I'm sorry, Mid-Tales of Berseria, Pre-Tales of Zestiria
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24190066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatshisface/pseuds/whatshisface
Summary: The thing here is that Dezel is best described as… Difficult. That's fine though because Zaveid likes a good fight.Alternatively: how malakhim with incredibly bad luck find each other when the world is burning.
Relationships: Dezel & Zaveid (Tales of Zestiria), Lailah & Dezel (Tales of Zestiria), Lailah & Zaveid (Tales of Zestiria)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	(promise me) we'll be all right

This is how it works.

He’s a wind malak, and learning from others like him is going to be the best shot he has in this world. The thing about Dezel however, is that he is best described as… Difficult. And when he gets that way, he can get loud. Which makes him a great target for daemons; the noise attracts them and makes him easy to find. If one pairs that with the fact that he hardly knows how to fight, they can tell that It doesn’t turn out pretty. He's already gotten into his fair share of arguments with other malaks, and the end result is almost always the same.

Someone leaves and Dezel is alone again. If he has to learn how to get by on his own, he will, but that doesn't stop things from being less lonely. It doesn't help him to feel less angry either. Why does no one want to stay with him, is it his fault?

What rotten luck.

Not that it takes much nowadays, with how his current situation is going. He was minding his own business, trying to practice fighting when he found himself scooped up by the collar into the mouth of a daemon. It tosses Dezel in the air before it catches him, giving a shake for good measure as he yells. He starts kicking and thrashing in whatever direction he can manage and it works somehow. The struggle is enough that the daemon throws Dezel a good distance away and he manages to avoid hitting the tree that he was being aimed at. He stumbles as he picks himself up, but he manages it and even though he wants to fight, he knows he has to get away. He’s no good to anyone if he’s dead.

(How are you supposed to prove them wrong if you get killed being stupid?)

So, in spite of the way he feels bad for it, he runs.

Not that he gets very far, considering he doesn’t know *any* tricks that he’s seen the other malakhim do. His ankle hurts but he pushes himself to run harder, trying to call upon the wind, on something within him, on anything! Nothing answers his call. The daemon is back on him within seconds, knocking him to the ground with a tackle just as he can feel the wind swirling at his fingertips. His hands are cold when he hits the ground again, and the impact hides a sob.

Dezel rolls onto his back and raises his arms in front of his face, bracing himself for the blow as the daemon lunges at him.

…

…

But nothing happens. He doesn’t feel any pain and the silence after has him hesitate, confused at expecting one thing but not getting it. As he opens his eyes, he sees a thin black cord wrapped around the top half of the daemon’s jaw, the monster straining to sink teeth into Dezel. Eyes following the source, he sees a figure standing behind, holding onto the cord with one hand while the other is drawn to his side, fingers curled as green magic swirls in the palm.

“Why don’t you dance with me, big guy?”

The man gives a tug and the daemon follows it. Dezel can’t help the surge of jealousy he feels for a moment, for how easy the stranger makes it look. He dodges the daemon at every turn and manages to wield his pendulum as if he’s been doing it his whole life. The big thing is when he casts a major arte, because the wind is howling but it moves around Dezel, tendrils of green and white blending for one last strike that knocks the daemon into the ground, the impact having left a crater around it.

When he gets closer, Dezel’s brain plays catch-up and makes the connection: another wind malak. He takes a knee and offers his hand.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“- You’re not gonna kill it?” Brow furrowed, Dezel frowns with some sense of dissatisfaction.

The older malak spares a glance back to the daemon as its claws dig into the ground and it pushes itself up, falling back down as soon as it tries to brace. He shakes his head and offers his head again, more insistent this time. Dezel takes it but he still frowns when the stranger winks at him.

“Not my style.” He doesn’t ask a third time and instead picks Dezel up by the waist, which saves him the trouble of having to admit that he doesn’t think he can stand up anyway. He and Dezel ride the wind off somewhere else and it feels good, like things are turning around.

\---

His name is Zaveid and he’s a major pain in the side.

Annoying, arrogant, self-centered, those are just a handful of words that could be used to describe him in the short time Dezel has known him. After leaving the mess, the wind around them calms and they make camp for the night. There’s food and Zaveid isn’t that good of a cook, but it fills Dezel’s stomach and it eases any apprehensions he has about the whole situation. To be honest, he’s been waiting for the other shoe to drop; for Zaveid to ask for something that he doesn’t have, or to ditch him like all the others. It doesn’t happen. They barely talk that night – it’s mostly Zaveid filling in the silence that Dezel makes, talking about the daemon and how Dezel shouldn’t be out here by himself. It’s hardly safe to be alone, let alone a kid.  


Dezel replies that there is no one else, and it feels like a good time to go to bed.

In the early morning after, Dezel wakes up to find Zaveid tending the remnants of their fire, flashing an easier grin and offering a bowl of what looks like porridge. It’s taken quickly and as Dezel scoops at it, Zaveid settles.

“So, what’s your plan?” He leans forward, head resting against his hand while he crosses a leg. “Where you headin’ off to now?”

The shrug inbetween bites gets Zaveid to grin and he shakes his head, turning his eyes back to the path.

“Well, how about wherever the wind goes? Does that sound good?” He doesn’t see the way Dezel is looking at him, confused, spoon halfway to his mouth and lips parted like he wants to say something to that. “We could go together, if you want.”  
Company sounds great. Or maybe he’s just desperate for someone to talk to. That’s annoying.

“… Teach me how to fight.” There’s a bigger grin as Zaveid looks back at him, and he offers a hand. They shake.

\---

It takes a while for Zaveid to actually start teaching Dezel; most times, he redirects the conversation to another topic, like where they’re going, or how long it’s been since he’s been in this part of Midgand. One more than one occasion, Dezel has started swinging punches and throwing kicks without warning, but they’re all dodged with ease. It feels like he’s being bullied with the way he’s being maneuvered around (he swears he hears a yawn). Once, Zaveid had even tripped Dezel with his pendulum before catching him, messing with his hair to rile him up.

It’s not fair, but the moments where Zaveid treats him like a kid get at him even more.

Somehow, they make it work.

When an attack happens, Dezel knows the drill at this point. He either hides or gets somewhere high, usually with Zaveid’s help. He doesn’t draw attention to himself, but in those moments, Dezel makes sure to keep an eye on things. This is how he learns how to move in battle, how to draw the pendulum back to himself and how to strike at the right moments.If he could read the wind as easy as Zaveid makes it look, he could probably do it better. 

Still, traveling with someone else is nice. He gets to make a connection that other malaks hadn’t wanted with him, and learning about Zaveid means that Zaveid learns things about Dezel in turn. (He gets teased about his affinity for animals and bugs, but it just means that there’s another set of eyes to help him look when they have the time.) It’s fun – they go where the wind does, and that means they live how they want. Dezel doesn’t want this journey to end, and he won’t admit that to Zaveid of all people.

The older malak has gone from savior to heckler, and the time together has taught Dezel things. He’s learned how to read people better, and he notices changes. Like how in the middle of the bragging or complaining, Zaveid will look at him and sometimes, he will look nothing like a pain in the side. He won’t say anything, but his eyes will soften, his face relaxes and the corners of his mouth pull up into a smile that won’t say more than it shows. He looks at Dezel like they could do this forever, and the idea upsets him for how much hope it fills him with.

Because it’s almost always the same; someone leaves. Dezel is alone again.

And Zaveid has this bad habit of leaving Dezel alone. Sure, he comes back but it doesn’t mean much when he keeps tearing open an already sore wound. There have been more than a few arguments, with reasoning for both sides. Dezel is too young, he shouldn’t have to deal with whatever the other wind malak is handling, but what about if Zaveid needs someone to help him? What if Zaveid decides to get killed and Dezel is here, waiting, wondering, kicking himself for listening?

Regardless of what the arguments might bring, Zaveid wins every time.

\---

One day, Zaveid tells him to stay put while he scouts ahead for a path, so Dezel decides to go looking for bugs. Stonebury was a nice town. They had passed through and decided to spend more time in the fields, where the breeze was best. He’s in the dirt on hands and knees, inching closer to a stag beetle when the insect freezes and takes to the air, flying off as Dezel fumbles after it to no avail. He turns to look at the disturbance and sees Zaveid coming out of a gust of wind out of breath and looking shaken. Zaveid windsteps and scoops him up without another word, ignoring the protests as he starts to sprint.

“What are you doing?!” The nearly deafening roar in the background answers his questions and Dezel drops his anger, instead wraps arms around Zaveid and holds on for dear life.

They move through the brush as quick as the wind can take them and still, he can hear the thunderous sounds behind them. If he peeks over Zaveid's shoulder, he sees the grass in the fields bend over at the sheer impact, he can hear rock splinter. His grip tightens and he buries his face into Zaveid’s shoulder When the older malak slows, he’s setting Dezel down inside a log, eyes wide and- oh, that’s a new look. Fear, worry? Panic.

“Stay here, okay? And don’t – don’t leave until I say it’s okay.”

“Wh- Zaveid!” He doesn’t get in another word before Zaveid has taken his jacket off and placed it around Dezel, moving back and looking away, looking up and gesturing wildly. Everything around them shakes and all Dezel can do is watch as he presses himself against the wood, fingers curled tight in the fabric of Zaveid’s jacket.

“Hey! Over here, sweetheart!” Dezel doesn’t get a good look at the daemon when it passes, only sees the great shadow it casts as it passes overhead, feels the brunt of its presence and he forgets how to breathe for a moment.  
It gets quiet. Dezel waits.

Zaveid doesn’t come back until hours have passed, when the skies have gotten dark and the rain has soaked everything around. He looks exhausted from the running, scraped up from whatever had happened when he drew the daemon away. He slumps over the log and watches, trying to catch his breath as Dezel climbs out slowly, eyes swollen and frown tight to keep his cries quiet. He tugs the smaller malak into his arms and Dezel swears that his shoulder feels wet as Zaveid holds him.

The rain stops eventually and he tries to ask, but he gets no answers.

\---

Dezel is more paranoid after that. He learns to listen when Zaveid tells him to hide, but he makes sure to stay within range so that if they need to run, they do it together.

Today is no different than that. He’s not sure what it is during this fight that has Zaveid so sluggish, but the daemon strikes him across his chest and he flies across the battlefield. Dezel fights every urge to to get up and go because Zaveid's never needed help before, but then the daemon knocks him down again and that's the final straw. Dezel bursts out from his hiding spot and dashes over to them, lifting his hands out as he places himself inbetween and Zaveid yells for him to get out of the way. He braces for the impact.

For the second time since they've met, nothing happens. Dezel opens his eyes and sees the way the wind's curled around him, making an active shield that fends off the daemon who's just as confused. It gives Zaveid the opening he needs to turn the battle around, and as the daemon collapses, the two of them look at each other, Dezel starting to match Zaveid's growing grin. Zaveid picks him up, swings him around and hollers.

"How did you do that?!"

"I don't know!" Dezel's reply is just as excited and the two of them laugh from the bottom of their stomachs, grateful to one another.

\---

After everything, despite how Dezel has been practicing more, how he's learned to use artes better, and how he's starting to fight like him, Zaveid still seems be following his bad habits, and he's been leaving Dezel alone again. At first, he would find a good place for them to make camp, then he would be gone in the morning. After the arguments and outbursts, Zaveid had promised not to do it anymore, but Dezel knows better. It has to have something to do with the way the world is changing, how they've seen strange things and how Zaveid has seen more than he'll tell Dezel. It doesn't take much to figure it out with the way that Zaveid had reacted the day they were in Port Zekson. The liveliest crowd at the market he had ever seen, and then nothing. Everyone had looked so listless, so emotionless. (Where was the freedom to live as they pleased?) It had lasted for a moment, and Dezel had never been more relieved to have things back to normal.

Today though, they were supposed to be going bug hunting together. Dezel had been excited at first when they started to move, but when they get closer to Aball and nowhere near where Zaveid said they were heading, he grows quiet, pensive. The woods are less crowded than he's used to, but he's too busy dreading what will happen next to pay attention to it.

The gut feeling is confirmed when they approach and see someone standing on the bridge. Her hair is long and white, pulled over a shoulder and held together with this intricate decoration. Her dress is red and she's smiling when they approach, as Zaveid lets Dezel down from his shoulder. His nose scrunches as he scrutinizes the stranger, eventually realizing the catch. Another malak. Of course, he would do this without telling Dezel anything.

“Zaveid, hello!”

"Hey there Lailah, you're looking as lovely as ever."

"Am I? You're too much, I already said this is no trouble!" The laugh she gives sours Dezel's face even more as he groans, quick to drown out the conversation that they start into. It's something about how he's grateful that she'll do this favor, and how Dezel might seem rough, but he's "got a good heart" or whatever excuse Zaveid can make for him today. He's jostled out of his thoughts with a nudge and he looks between the two of them.

"Lailah's gonna take care of you, okay? She's got a lot of experience on her hands, say hi."

“Whatever, I don’t care!” Dezel throws his hands up and tears himself away from Zaveid’s grasp, disappearing in a gust of air and reappearing shakily a few feet away. He climbs onto a large rock and sits down on it, arms crossed and back to them.  
Zaveid looks to Lailah who offers a sympathetic smile, then he makes his way over. Dezel shrugs off the hand that’s placed on his shoulder so Zaveid walks around, unable to help the way his mouth curls when the younger malak lifts his chin and looks away.  
He squats down to Dezel’s level but there's no response.

"Where I'm going, it's too dangerous for you."

"I'm not a kid, stop!" Dezel squirms as Zaveid puts his jacket around his shoulders again. He tugs it off and balls the fabric up as much as he can before throwing it to the side and into the dirt. The wind is dead still. "Just- go. Leave me alone."

Zaveid's movements are slow but deliberate as he reaches up, mussing Dezel's hair and pressing a kiss into it. The whole act gets him a shove back and Dezel draws the wind around himself as a threat but nothing more. Watching him for a few moments more, he steps back and has his hands up in surrender, the smile on his face strained as he nods. He says he'll be back soon as he turns away, saying his goodbyes to Lailah before the wind picks up and dies down just as quickly. Once Dezel can’t pick up Zaveid’s presence anymore, his brow furrows. He can hear Lailah step forward and steady at his side, her hands folded in front of her at the waist as she waits patiently, quiet. It’s a change he’s going to have to get used to, depending on how long Zaveid’s gone.

But now that he’s actually paying attention to her, it doesn’t take much to realize something doesn’t add up with what was said.

“… Aren’t you my age?”

“ – Ah?” Based on the way Lailah straightens up and lets out a sound, he figures that she had thought it wasn’t noticeable. He doesn’t know many malakhim close to his age though, but when you do find someone, it’s… difficult not to notice. Not that it makes the situation any better because like it or not, Zaveid has ditched him again. "Am I? Zaveid thinks I'm closer to his age-"

"He's a moron."

Lailah presses a hand to her mouth to hide a smile but her shoulders shake and Dezel doesn't like how he feels annoyed for Zaveid at that. He's the one who said it, sure, but that doesn't mean Lailah should support it. Regardless, she offers a hand to him a second time and he shakes his head.

"Well, this can be our secret! Zaveid trusted me to make sure that we don't bite off more than we can chew, and I don't think he'd trust us if we did, don't you think?" She raises a good point. Dezel's arms slowly loosen and he drops them to his sides, holding onto the rock. That seems to get her to relax because she seems more open with her approach, leaning towards him as he leans back. "Are you hungry?"

"- No." He ignores the grumble of his stomach and she follows suit, tilting her head the other way, still smiling. She curls her hands behind her back in a nonchalant manner and he can't help the eye roll at how bad this recovery is. He thinks about asking if she knows where Zaveid went, but considering how much Zaveid talks but doesn't actually say, he's willing to bet that Lailah is in the dark as much as he is.

"Well, if you're still angry, we can try meditation!"

"... What's that?"

"Oh, you'll love it, it's actually-" Clapping her hands together, Lailah's demeanor brightens even more if possible and she gestures for him to follow, turning onto her heel and going off on the wonderful benefits of self-reflection and crap like that. Dezel hops off and starts to follow. He's sure she's not so bad, and having someone closer to his age with what he hopes is a different personality from Zaveid will be refreshing. but he closes the gap only halfway before he stops and turns around. Running back to the jacket on the ground, he unfurls it and brushes off what he can before tugging it on. Once he's fixed himself, he moves to catch back up to Lailah.

Zaveid will find Dezel again. They both go where the wind goes, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> based off some discussions I had with a friend about how these two (three eventually with Lailah) malakhim / seraphim may have come to know each other. this plays with the canon during the events of berseria, after, and along with what leads up into zestiria, even if it doesn't explicitly say so. there's a lot of filling in the blanks here with what little we've got to go on, thanks for reading this. also, shoutout to same friend for reading over this for me!


End file.
